Utah Jazz Center Rudy Gobert Out for a Month With Sprained PCL, Bone Bruise in Left Knee
For the second time this season, Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert is going to have to sit on the sidelines for an extended period of time due to a knee injury.
The Jazz have announced that the team's medical staff examined Gobert on Saturday, and after undergoing a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan, he was diagnosed with a bone bruise and a sprained posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) in his left knee.
The 2017 All-NBA Second Team center will be reevaluated in two weeks.
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According to Shams Charania of The Vertical, the knee injury is expected to keep Gobert off the court for at least a month.
Gobert went down with the injury after teammate Derrick Favors fell backward into his leg in the opening minutes of their game against the Boston Celtics on Friday.
The French center also had to sit out 11 games earlier this season after he sustained a bone bruise in his right knee. Now he will have to miss more games because of an injury to his left knee.
Gobert is averaging 11.6 points, 9.6 rebounds and 2.3 blocks in 18 games this season. He is also shooting 59.8 percent from the field, and 68.3 percent from the free-throw line.
Favors is expected to shift from power forward to center in Gobert's absence, but he also got hurt in Friday's game after Celtics wing Jaylen Brown caught him with an incidental elbow. Favors sustained a laceration over his left eye and he received six stitches for the cut. He missed their game against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday and he was ruled out of Monday's game against the Houston Rockets as well.
Ekpe Udoh should continue to see a significant uptick in playing time if Favors misses more games. Forward Jonas Jerebko is expected to see some minutes at center as well.
